This invention generally relates to bacon chips or bacon patties and to the manufacture and preparation of such bacon-originating products. More particularly, chips or patties are prepared which are disks of a desired profile, whether circular, oval, rectangular, or other desired plan shape, which disks are cooked into a finished product suitable for incorporation into packaged meals, sandwich components, pizzas, packaged snacks, and the like. The disks are made from ground, processed bacon ends or pieces which are mixed with ground uncooked meat trimmings and a brine solution, which meat mixture is shaped, frozen and sliced into the disks which are subsequently cooked into the bacon chips, patties and the like.
Bacon products originating from pork belly cuts have long been used in food products such as sandwiches, meals, side dishes and the like. Traditionally, these take the form of elongated strips which are sliced from a cured pork belly. While great strides have been made in recent years in order to achieve more uniformity in certain bacon strips, sizing variabilities and inconsistencies still occur, and it is not possible to closely control the shape of the strips or to vary their shape or size to any substantial extent. Weight and size control of precooked whole and partial bacon strips is very difficult because of the originating natural shape of the belly and because the cook level can vary greatly from strip to strip, and even within the same strip. Such inconsistencies are due, in part, to variable fat content, size, and in some instances thickness. These parameters can vary depending upon the source of each particular strip. In addition, the traditional elongated strip shape is not always suitable for all applications, limiting the usefulness of these traditional bacon products, or requiring size-reduction and/or assembly steps in preparing a final desired food product.
Because of these limitations, there has been a desire to be able to provide a precooked bacon product which delivers the true cooked flavor and texture of bacon in a shape and size which can be particularly advantageous for use in meal, sandwich and snack products and the like. In the past, approaches have been taken in order to address these types of needs and desires. Gibson U.S. Pat. No. 3,642,496 describes a method of making a bacon-containing food product. This patent utilizes bacon ends and combines bacon end pieces with additions that are high in protein content and high in albumin content, which combination is shaped into a form suitable for cooking. Requiring a high-albumin component makes such products less than suitable for providing true cooked flavor and texture of bacon. Depner U.S. Pat. No. 4,107,337 describes a sausage product for simulating bacon having two separate components, one being a lean meat appearing component, and the other a fat-appearing component. With this approach, the fat-like component serves as a binder for the lean meat component. The resulting sliced product has an elongated strip shape of a simulated bacon, a non-meat originating binder being included.
According to the invention, suitable bacon chip, bacon patty and the like is provided in cooked form without requiring a binder such as albumin. Products are provided which deliver the true cooked flavor and texture of bacon in a small chip or patty format which is sized and shaped as desired. They incorporate ends and/or pieces of processed, cured bacon which are traditional byproducts of bacon processing and slicing carried out during industrial-scale bacon packaging operations.